Batching apparatus



Nov. 22, 1927. 1,650,249

W. M. VENABLE BATCHING APPARATUS Filed April '7. 192s .5 Sheets Sheef 1 a" R I I "WI/55 ZMWW Nov. 22, 1927. 1,650,249

W. M. VENABLE BATCHING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 VENTOR A TTORN E Y5 Nov. 22, 1927. 1,650,249

w. M. VENABLE BATCHING APPARATUS Filed April 1923 3 $h'eets-Sneet 5 Patented Nov. 22, i927.

UhllTE STATES TENT vrrica.

WILLIAM M. VENABLE, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR QTO BLAW-KNOX COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

IBATCHING APPARATUS.

Continuation of application Serial No.

My invention relates to what may conveniently be termed batching apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for keeping separate and delivering or dumping as wanted diflerent materials that are to be used concurrently or together. Examples of such batching apparatus are the bodies of motor trucks used for hauling ingredients for concrete. 'Various objects and advantages of the invention will appear from my explanation hereinafter of its use in connect'ion with concrete work on roads and the like, and from my description of'the best embodiments of the invention known to me with special reference to their use in road building.

In building concrete roads and road foundations, it is customary to grade the roadway with a steam shovel or'the like a long distance ahead of the actual paving work: indeed, it is quite common 'to have the gradingpractically completed (except for the final finishing up and levelling of the surface) several miles ahead of the actual concreting operations. The roadway is usually graded just to the width necessary to receive the pavement, which for concrete roads is generally about 18 feet, more or less; so that at the point where the mixer is operating and the concrete being placed in the roadway, very little extra room is available. Generally, of course, the materials for the concrete have to be hauled over the graded roadway ahead of the mixer (and of the fresh concrete just-placed on the grade); and to avoid congestion in the limited space where work is going on around the mixer,

it is customary to drive'motor trucks with the mineral aggregate that is to be mixed with cement to form the concrete within one or two hundred feet ofthe mixer (where a turntable is generally provided to turn them around), and then back them up to the mixer and dump their loads into the latter.

lln present practice, the mineral aggregate for each charge of the mixer enerally consists of about 12 cu. ft. of sand and 18 cu. ft. of broken stone or gravel. Small trucks haul only one such batch of sand" and stone at a load; others, large enough to carry several such batches, are provided with cross partitions to divide them up into separate compartments or containers for 599,529, filed November 7, 1922. This application filed April 7, 1923. Serial No. 630,458.

the individual batches. After dumping, its first batch into the mixer' hopper, such a truck is drawn a few feet aw-a to await disposal of this batch by the mixer before backing up toit again and depositing another b'atch,and so on until all the batches in the truck (up to a maximum of four, according to present practice) have been dumped.

The cement used in the concrete is not hauled in the same batch with the sand and stone, because the latter are more or less wet, and hence likely to injure the cement in transit. In order to obviate the congestion, inconvenience, and delay that would result from periodically unloading trucks of cement right at the mixer as required, it is customar to haul the cement independently of the mineral aggregate, and to store it in piles along the side of the grade. As a great deal of cement is required, and as it cannot well be planted in this manner very far ahead of the mixer,on account of its deterioration with prolonged exposure or in case of rain,this separate hauling proves a great nuisance; for it necessarily causes congestion and-interferes withthe free and undelayed stream of stone and sand trucks to and from the mixer on which regular, continuous, economical operation depends. And besides the labor and expense of loading, hauling, and unloading and placing the cement along the roadway, this practice requires the continuous services of some four extra men at the mixer (when the latter is ofordinary size) to handle the bags of cement and empt them into the mixer,-to say nothing of t 1e anno ance and trouble of gathering the sacks an hauling them back to the warehouse, the considerable loss of sacks by carelessness, and the occasional dama e to thecement (in transit or alongside t e roadway) by wetting. My invention makes it possible to do away with such disadvantages'of present practice,

by abolishing the separate hauling of cement. Even though the'stone and sand bemon subject matter disclosed and claimed.

usual, to separate the batches and retain,

In the drawings, Fig. 1 isa somewhat diagrammatic side view of a motor truck with tilting du np body and my invention applied thereto,positions assumed by the body,

etc, during dumping being shown in dotted lines. a p

Fig. 2 is a detached rear view of the vehicle body with its gate omitted,-i. e., a view from the right of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detached side view of the cement container or compartment alone,-similar to that afforded by Fig. 2, but on a larger scale and from the other (front) side.

Fig. 4 is a detached view of the cement compartment partly in fore and aft section as indicated by the line 44 in Fig. 3,oth

erwise very similar to Fig. 1 except as to scale.

Figs. 5 and 6 are fragmentary side views illustrating a different arrangement and construction,the vehicle body being in longitudinal section in both figures, but horizontal in Fig. 5 and inclined or tilted for dumpin in Fig. 6.

. ig. 7 is a' diagrammatic side view of a motor truck body inclined or tilted for dumping, illustrating still another arrangement and construction.

The truck and the provisions for elevating or tilting its body 10 for dumping may be of any preferred type and construction. As a means. of discharging its contents at its rear side or .end, the body 10 here shown has a movable closure '11, located at and coextensive with the rear end wall itself. This to retain the contents or charge in the body 10 until it is desired to dump it,-even, indeed, after the body is tilted. Bodies of ca pactiy to hold more than one batch of mineral ag regate will, of course, have one or more additional gates like the gate 11, located at appropriate distances behind it, as

them for successive discharge and delivery as described above.

For separate transportation of the cement to be used with each-batch of mineral aggregate, there is provided a container or compartment 15,one to each main compartment or container aflorded by the body 10. As shown. in Fig. 1, the rectangular body 10 is relatively shallow, and of such proportions as -to contain but one single batch of the aggregate; and hence only one auxiliary compartment is required. This .in the form of a rathermarrow elongatedsheet metal pocket or box extending transversely across the container 10, and down fairly close to its bottom. It is of less width than the body 10, however, and hence spaced somewhat from the sides of-the latter, so as to afford room and passage for the material. ThuS the ii'iain charge is all around the auxiliary compartment 15. To close the upper end or top of the compartment 15 and provide conveniently for filling it, a sheet metal cover 16 (with downturned or flanged edges to overlap the walls and make a weatherproof joint) is hinged thereto as indicated at 17, 17 (Figs. 3 and 4).

Preferably, the compartment 15 is adapted to dump or discharge downward upon and into the material carried by the container 10, and is provided (see Figs. 1 and 4) with a movable closure or door at its lower end or bottom, in-the form of a swinging bottom plate 20 with its forward edge hinged orpivoted M21. The joint'of this trap door 20 with the compartment wall may be protected against influx of any water draining down close to the wall by a skirt portion 22 depending around such joint, and the door hinges 21 may be attached to this skirt. When the door 20 is arranged to overlap the lower edges of the compartment wall, as in Figs. 3 and 4, the skirt-22 may conveniently be formed of a separate strip orsheet metal appropriately joggled, and riveted on above the lower edge of the main wall. To obviate sticking of the cement charge in the com-- partment 15 in case it should become tightly packed therein, the compartment is preferably made of downward flaring form at all sides.

In the constructionillustrated in Figs. 1-4, the auxiliary compartment 15 is not fixed on the body 10, but is movable relatively thereto, thus affording t'recr passage for discharge of material fronrbeyond said compartment. and also facilitating its own discharge. It is arranged and supported to swing fore and aft on trunnions 23 extending through bracket arms or standards 24 seoured to angle bar flanges 25 on the body sides, and is kept from displacement crosswise of the body by collars 26 secured to the trunnions be 0nd the supporting brackets.

ill)

but

hang stably upright, even when quite full. \Vhen the compartment is thus upright in the container 10, as shown in fullvlines in Fig. 1, the trap door is held shut at a substantial height above the bottom of the container, and above any water that may there accummulate in the interstices of the charge. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the door 20 has on its bottom fore and aft curved-edged brace plates 28 which engage the container bottom to hold the door shut. In practice, indeed, the entire'weight of the compartment 15 and its contents may even be supported in this manner exclusively, with the trunnions 23 at the upper ends of their vertically elongated holes 29 in the standards 24- (see Fig. 2).

Recurring, now. to Fig. 1, it will be understood that in practice the truck is loaded with the body 10 lowered and the auxiliarycompartment 15 upright therein, or at right angles to its bottom, as shown in full lines. So long as the gate 11 remains shut, the materials in the containers 10 and 15 are kept separate and out of contact with one another, without opportunity for the one to become wet from the other, and the contents of the compartment 15 are also fully protected from the weather. When the body 10 is tilted as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the compartment 15 is at first naturally held in the same relative position by the portion of the main charge between it and the gate 11: i. e., still at right angles to the now inclined body bottom. As soon, however, as the gate 11 is released and opened, the main charge starts to run out, thus withdrawing its support from under the compartment 15. Thereupon the compartment 15 swings rearward or outward (both by gravity and under the push or weight of the portion of the main charge beyond it) toward the gate 11 and away from the container bottom, to a more or less nearly vertical position such as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. At the same time, the door 20 automatically drops and opens downward and rearward to discharge the auxiliary charge upon, into, and with the main discharge. The downward flare of the compartment 15 assures prompt dropping and discharge of the cement, which (if packed) breaks up when the mass of it strikes the rearward sloping open door 20. The portion of the main charge-from beyond the compartment 15 discharges via the passages at the sides of the compartment and the more ample passage thereunder due to its swinging away from the body bottom,the engagement means 28 on the door 20 definitely assuring a free passage beneath it.

'W hen the body 10 is lowered again and the gate 11 closes, the compartment 15 swings forward, and the door .20 is swung upward and closed by engagement with the bottom of the body..-

Thus the auxiliary charge of cement is not only discharged between the first and last discharged )ortions of the main charge, but into the midst of a surrounding mass of the latter, in front, beneath, behind, and at either side. As a result, it is not only swept clean out of the body 10 by and with the main charge and into the mixer hopper, but is enveloped and kept from contact with anything till after it gets into the mixer itself. It is not-discharged in the forefront of the mmeralaggregate, so that it may be blown away as dust by a strong wind, or stick persistently to the wet mixer hopper; neither is it allowed to come in contact with the wet walls of the body 10 and be lost in that manner.

Also it will be seen, the discharge of the compartment 15 is controlled by the container gate 11, ensuing autoi'natically whenever said gate is opcned.

It will be seen that any desired number of such auxiliary compartments 15 can be ver easily and quickly installed in any trucli body, since all that is necessary is to provide and fasten on supports 24 of suitable height,taking care, of course, to locate them so that the compartment 15 will not swing against the gate 11. Likewise, such a compartment 15 can be very easily removed for any purpose, by simply removing the collars 26 from the. trunnions 23 and shifting the latter endwise, first out of one support24 and then out of the other. \Vhen this has been done, the truck can be used in the ordinary manner.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate the application of my invention to a dump body with capacity for several batches of mineral aggregate, and hence subdivided. The portion of the body 10 here illustrated is that extending fore and aft from the boundary between two of the main compartments or containers 30, 31 afforded by said body. It will be understood, however, that in practice the construction here shown at the rear end (right hand) of the left hand compartment 30 will be duplicated at the rear of the compartment 31 and of any others beyond it. In these figures, various parts and features are marked with the reference characters applied to corresponding ones in Figs. 14, as a means of dispensing with merely repetitive description.-

- As here shown, the transversely extending auxiliary compartment 15 is located at the extreme rear of the corresponding main container 30, and when upright (as in Fig. 1) extends clear to the bottom and to either side of the body 10,-without an such space or clearance as in Figs. 1-4. ccordingly, the discharge gate for the container 30 (corresponding to the gate 11 in Figs. 1-4) is in eflect formed by the auxiliary compartment 15 itself or one of its transversely exlllt Gil

tending walls,really, perhaps, in the present instance, by the front wall, which is accordingly marked 11. The structure 15 is pivoted to fore and aft angle bars 37 secured on the top flanges of the body 10 with their own upstanding 'fianges to the inside, as by means of a transverse rod 38 extending through holes in said angles 37 and in horizontal bracket bars 39 secured to the end walls of the transversely extending structure. The bottom door plate 20 is stifiened with transverse angles 41 and by a longitudinal V or U shaped sheet metal stiffener 42. When the structure 15 swings forward to closed position, the member 42 slides i on the body bottom and forces the door I tilted (as-shown), by means of swim plate 20 close up against the edges of the compartment walls and of inward sloping metal lipstrips 43 secured and extending transversely of the body 10 near the lower edges of the transverse compartment walls,1nuch as in the case of the fore and aft plates 28 in Figs. 1-4. Additional protection at these points of sealing may be afforded by extension of the rear compartment wall down close to the bottom of the body 10, and by a forward joggled skirt plate 22 attached to the wall 11 above the door pivot 21. Normally and until the contents of the compartment 30 are to be dumped, the structure 15 is held in closed position by one or more locking rods or pins 44 extending through holes in the angle bars 37 and in the rearward projecting extremities of the bracket bars 39.

When the pins 44 are withdrawn and the structure 15 thus released, the discharge of main and auxiliary containers 30 and 15 takes place in much the same way as when the gate 11 is released in Fig. 1,except that the main charge does not surround the auxiliary one so con'ipletely, or afford so great protection against loss in dust or by sticking of cement to the body 10 or to the mixer hopper. Here also, of course, the operation of the gate 11 controls the compartment 15, since the two form one structure and move in unison.

Fig. 7 again, shows a tilting dump body 10 affording separate compartments or containers 30, 31 for two batches of mineral aggregate. As in the Figs. 1-6 types of construction, the rear sides or ends of these main containers 30, 31 are closed, and their contents retained even after the body 10 is gates 11 with pivots 12 at their upper Also, the auxiliary compartments 15 sociated and in a manner combined with the closure or partition means 11 (as in Figs. 5 and (5) as unitary structures that can be very easily applied to any truck body 10 or removed therefrom, and can readily be substituted for the usualpartitions of trucks heretofore in general use. Instead, however, of being movable with the gates 11, as in Figs 5 and 6, the other portions of the compartments 15 are fixedon the body 10. In Fig. 7, again, various parts and features are marked with the reference characters applied to corresponding ones in Figs. 1% or 5 and 6, as a means of dispensing with merely repetitive description.

. As here shown each transversely extending auxiliary compartment 15 is located in front of the corresponding gate 11, which forms its rear transverse wall. Besides front and ends, the fixed walls of each compartment 15 include a bottom sloping rearward somewhat, and preferably made of extra heavy plate, on accountof the extra severe abrasion and wear to which it is subjected. The gap that would otherwise exist between the upper edge of the gate plate 11 and the top of the cover 16 is closed by a transverse plate 51 secured at its ends to the end walls of the compartment 15; and further protection against weather is afforded at this point by a sort. of overhanging sheet metal eaves 52 secured to the plate 51. The discharge from the two compartments 30 and 15 is, again, controlled by the gate 11, since it serves directly as discharge gate for both. As shown the gate plate 11 is reinforced and stiffened with angle bars 53, and also has vertical angles 54 on its inner side to overlap with inward joggled vertical plates 55 secured to the end walls of the compartment 15, for the purpose of making a tighter joint. The gate 11 is normally held closed by engagement of inward projecting bevel ended latch hooks 56 (near its vertical edges) over the edges of catch notches 57 in the bottom plate 50, within the narrow vertical chambers formed within the compartment 15 by the plates 55.

When the gate 11 is to be opened, the latches 56 can be disengaged and released by lifting them out of the notches 57. As shown, this is accomplished by lifting the ends of the gate pivot rod 12, which extend through vertical guide slots 58 in angle bar brackets 59 secured to the compartment ends above the body 10, and projecting rearward. As a convenient means of lifting the ends of this rod 12 together (and thus releasing the latches 57, 57 simultaneously), an eccentric 60, with handle- 61, is non-rotatably secured to each end of the rod. so as to bear on the outward projecting horizontal bracket flange. Thus the gate 11 may be released and opened or set to lock itself shut on closing by manipdating either handle (51, as most convenient at the moment.

lVhen the eccentrics 60 are in locking adjustment, the handles 61 extend forward beside the brackets 59; while for releasing adrt, they 0 id rearward in a coni The weight of .ciics 61 area oi the gate 11 itself natullitl which case the lower portions" y 10.

when once "set for release.

While the Various-walls of'the compartment 15 and the gate 11 might be more or less separately secured to the bodfy 10' (in 'ts end walls, at least, couldbe dispensed with), it is generall preferable ,to secure all-these parts toget er independently of the body, so as to form .one complete unit that can be mounted and secured in the body with almost the same facility as in Figs. 1-6. A convenient way of mounting such units in the body 10 is to fit them between the upstanding flanges of the angle bars 37 and to secure them by bolts 66 through their end walls.-

Variations of bodies 10 in depth'can then be taken care of by merely varying the positions of. the bolt holes in the compartment ends;

minor variations in width by interposing.

liners or shifting the angle bars 37 ,or both.

When the body 10 is tilted and .the gate 11 released as described above, the contents of the two compartments 30 and 15 are discharged concurrently, much as in Figs. 5 and 6,the auxiliary charge from the lower region of the compartment1'5 on and into the'main' charge. Free passage for the discharge froin the container 11 beneath the compartment 15 is aiforded by the clearance (some eight inches or more) due to the height above the container bottom at whichthe compartment 15 is mounted,without necessity for any movement of the compartment 15 itself. I

It will readily be seen that by designing auxiliary compartments 15 of any types described (Figs. 1-7) of ample depth and capacity and merelyvarymg their mounting in the body, they can be standardized as to cross sectlon or profile. for truck bodies of a great many different shapes and styles; so that in order to adapt the standard line or desi to extreme variations in truck width, it w1ll only be necessary to var the lengths of their walls that extend lengt wise of the body. As a manufacturing proposition, this is much'simpler and easier than to modify the profile. p

I claim! r 1. The combination of a dump body coir tainer, and an auxiliary compartment wit pamage therebeneath for discharge of material from said container, said compartment being constructed and arranged to discharge into and with such material.

2. The combination of a dump body container with its closure and discharge means, and an auxiliary compartment with passage therebeneath for discharge of material from said container, and automatically discharging from its own lower region into and with such material upon opening of said closure means.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto slgned my name. 3 WILLIAM M. VENABLE.

has 

